I don't know if I'd go so far as to say "really good", but it certainly had its moments. But that's only on the basis of doing half the job.

As I see, there are two parts (or halves) to recruitment:

1. Player replacement
2. Player signings

In terms of 2, we've done pretty well. Eze, Olise, Guehi, Andersen, Schlupp, and Hughes, have all looked to some degree or another like decent signings, some very good indeed. Edouard and Mateta have been disasters, but they're very much the minority. More signing have been good than bad. Unfortunately, both of our terrible signings have come in the same position, so that's had a greater impact than it should.

In terms of point 1, though, our recruitment has been awful. We have simply not replaced key players, and as a result, the squad suffers from having a number that are way, way past their sell-by dates. Ward should have been put out to pasture two years ago, Clyne at least a year ago, Luka two years ago, Tomkins two years ago, McArthur probably two years ago, and Conor was never replaced at all. That's left six yawning chasms in what's a small squad to begin with. Most of the above can barely even contribute for ten minutes off the bench, let alone provide competition within the squad. Heaven knows I love Joel Ward, but he was just embarassing today. And to add insult to injury, we've repeatedly recruited sick notes. Nathan Ferguson? Seriously? He was broken before we bought him. How was that ever going to end well? Chris Richards...great player, but perpetually injured everywhere he's been. What was the point? Someone to keep Ferguson company on the physio's table?

The reality is that the success of a handful of our signings has obscured the fact that our overall recruiting strategy has been appalling and now we're paying the price for it with an unbalanced, weak squad that has no depth and provides the manager with no alternatives when the going gets tough. In short, we're a mess.

I want to write something positive .... but watching the Arsenal debacle today made it clear that it will take a herculean effort to stay up, because we have so many weak spots that the teams below us will exploit. Our team identity needs a reboot.

Two weeks to reignite passion, grit, determination and team spirit.... then we can cover off the weaknesses and perhaps exploit some explosive counterattacking football.

Better get someone in charge real fast!

Edited by radicalsteve (19 Mar 2023 8.53pm)

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say "really good", but it certainly had its moments. But that's only on the basis of doing half the job.

As I see, there are two parts (or halves) to recruitment:

1. Player replacement
2. Player signings

In terms of 2, we've done pretty well. Eze, Olise, Guehi, Andersen, Schlupp, and Hughes, have all looked to some degree or another like decent signings, some very good indeed. Edouard and Mateta have been disasters, but they're very much the minority. More signing have been good than bad. Unfortunately, both of our terrible signings have come in the same position, so that's had a greater impact than it should.

In terms of point 1, though, our recruitment has been awful. We have simply not replaced key players, and as a result, the squad suffers from having a number that are way, way past their sell-by dates. Ward should have been put out to pasture two years ago, Clyne at least a year ago, Luka two years ago, Tomkins two years ago, McArthur probably two years ago, and Conor was never replaced at all. That's left six yawning chasms in what's a small squad to begin with. Most of the above can barely even contribute for ten minutes off the bench, let alone provide competition within the squad. Heaven knows I love Joel Ward, but he was just embarassing today. And to add insult to injury, we've repeatedly recruited sick notes. Nathan Ferguson? Seriously? He was broken before we bought him. How was that ever going to end well? Chris Richards...great player, but perpetually injured everywhere he's been. What was the point? Someone to keep Ferguson company on the physio's table?

The reality is that the success of a handful of our signings has obscured the fact that our overall recruiting strategy has been appalling and now we're paying the price for it with an unbalanced, weak squad that has no depth and provides the manager with no alternatives when the going gets tough. In short, we're a mess.

It’s easy to say, they should have got rid of different players, but if they are under contract and nobody wants to buy them, you have a problem. It was widely stated that we would enter a transitional period of moving to younger players with resale value, you can’t do this in a couple of transfer windows it takes time.
Every club has fans that complain about recruitment, nothing is ever good enough, it’s the nature of expectation.
The main problem this season is the players aren’t fit enough or motivated enough, that is squarely the responsibility of the manager and coaching staff. How many games have we faded in the second half and given away goals?